... tend to be pretty ridiculous. It seems that portraying musical genius is beyond the ability of most filmmakers. What movies about composers are at least fairly accurate and worthy of being taken seriously?
God is subtle, but He is not malicious. (Albert Einstein)
Everytime I see one, I find out later it's a farce. Too bad because I love the subject.
Accuracy is not a virtue generally exercised by Hollywood (and other) biographic film producers and directors in general.
"Till the Clouds Roll By", about Jerome Kern, is a relatively entertaining film, but features possibly the worst series of inaccuracies EVER.
It seems NOTHING about it is accurate - except the man's name... and the titles of his songs.
The same goes for the one about Cole Porter ("Night and Day", was it?)
"Yankee Doodle Dandy" also omits A LOT (like, a wife, no less!).
So, all in all, Forman's "Amadeus" is, for all its inaccuracies, a fairly accurate depiction of Mozart's PERSONALITY, if nothing else.
(Besides, it wasn't supposed to be a biopic proper - rather, it was based on Pushkin's drama.)
And I remember watching an old, black-and-white film about Gershwin many moons ago, that seemed fairly accurate.
Till the Clouds Roll By", about Jerome Kern, is a relatively entertaining film, but features possibly the worst series of inaccuracies EVER.
It seems NOTHING about it is accurate - except the man's name... and the titles of his songs.
If you're looking to find out something about Jerome Kern, you really won't learn anything from TIL' THE CLOUDS ROLL BY...it was just an excuse to put all the stars on contract to MGM at the time in one of their all-star revues, though there are some wonderful numbers, including two classic Judy Garland solos and a nice mini-tribute to SHOWBOAT. Same goes for WORDS AND MUSIC, the alleged biography of Rodgers and Hart with Tom Drake and Mickey Rooney...just another excuse to bring all the contract stars together in one movie.
One of the reasons is that the dynamics of the genre, and its conventions, demand a "eureka moment", when the composer / songwriter / whatever, suddenly "gets it" (this is true of films about scientists, writers, etc.), when that tune starts appearing while playing around at the piano, or strumming the guitar (Johnny Cash starting to mumble "I hear that train a-commin'..."). Anyone who has created art, whatever it be, knows that along with that rare moment of inspiration, the act of creation is much hard work, that in inherently uncinematic.
(The only film I can mention that presented the complex creative process is Victor Erice's "El Sol del membrillo", with Antonio López García playing himself.)
Moviemakers also try to whip up stories around the actual lives of composers that don't seem very exciting to begin with. Someone like Mozart is an exception - Amadeus brilliantly makes use of rumor by building the story around Salieri rather than Mozart. But try making a film about J. S. Bach...A brilliant musician, but it seemed that he only wrote great music and fathered 20 children in between, that's all.
Beethoven wasn't even that great of a subject for film, either, IMO. Beethoven was simply a great artist, period. He spent most of his time performing or sitting at his desk writing music, not chasing after women and throwing chairs through windows.
I should mention one other film that does work in an odd kind of way - Ken Russel's Mahler. The story focuses on a train ride with Mahler and his wife Alma, and the possiblity of Alma leaving him.
http://www.geocities.com/paul_johnr/
I liked Amadues.
The more things change, the more they stay the same
The Eddy Duchin Story.
I really liked this one.
EVERYONE LEFT OUT "RAY" and Buddy Holly with Gary Busey.
Let us not forget Mr Ritchie Valens.